The worldwide server market continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2019 as revenue increased 5.1% and shipments grew 11.7% year over year, according to Gartner, Inc. In all of 2019, worldwide server shipments declined 3.1% and server revenue declined 2.5% compared with full-year 2018.

“The market returned to growth with a very strong fourth quarter result, largely driven by a return of demand from hyperscalers,” said Adrian O'Connell, senior research director at Gartner. “However, the outlook for the worldwide server market in 2020 is subject to great uncertainty. The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is expected to temper forecast growth. Although demand from the hyperscale segment is expected to continue through the first half of the year, other buying organizations' reactions will vary.”

Dell EMC secured the top spot in the worldwide server market based on revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 (see Table 1). Despite a decline of 9.9% year over year, Dell EMC secured 17.3% market share, followed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) with 15.4% of the market. IBM experienced the strongest growth in the quarter, growing 28.6%.

In server shipments, Dell EMC maintained the No. 1 position in the fourth quarter of 2019 with 14.2% market share (see Table 2). HPE secured the second spot with 10.8% of the market. Both Dell EMC and HPE experienced declines in server shipments, while Lenovo experienced the strongest growth with a 22.4% increase in shipments in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Table 2 Worldwide: Server Vendor Shipment Estimates, 4Q19 (Units)

Source: Gartner (March 2020)

Full-Year 2019 Server Market Results

In 2019, both worldwide server shipments and revenue declined, with shipments falling 3.1% and revenue down 2.5%

As for vendor performance, Dell EMC took the top spot in both revenue and shipments with 20.5% market share and 16.3% market share, respectively. HPE secured the No. 2 position with market share of 17.3% in revenue and 12.3% in shipments. Inspur Electronics is the only vendor in the top five that grew in both revenue and shipments in 2019.